Prime Minister David Cameron has insisted the government's position on Iraq is "clear" and said the UK would not deploy "boots on the ground".

Mr Cameron said Britain would "use all the assets that we have", including "military prowess" and aid to defeat the "monstrous" Islamic State militant group (IS).

Parliament did not need to be recalled to discuss Iraq, he added.

Labour said Britain's role in the crisis was "pretty unclear".

Defence Secretary Michael Fallon has said the UK's military involvement in the country could last for "months", and has revealed that RAF surveillance aircraft are operating there.

IS, an extreme Sunni Islam group, is seeking to build a so-called caliphate - a new Islamic state spanning Iraq and Syria.

The group has seized large parts of both countries in recent months and is alleged to have carried out mass killings of non-Muslims.

Analysis

Jonathan Beale, BBC defence correspondent

The British military role in Iraq has already morphed from providing humanitarian relief to gathering intelligence. It could easily change again to more direct intervention.

Even now one can assume that surveillance being carried out by the RAF's latest spy plane - the Rivet Joint - is being used to help the US military to identify potential IS targets.

The eight Tornado jets already at RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus, and currently being used for surveillance, could easily switch to a bombing role. But such a move would probably have to be approved by the Cyprus government.

The political language is changing - perhaps a sign that ministers are preparing the ground for airstrikes. The military hardware is in place. But there are still obstacles - not least consulting Parliament.

Iraq mission: UK commitment

£13m

aid assistance

Tornado bombers (non-combat)

Hercules transport planes

Chinook helicopters

Rivet Joint surveillance aircraft

Source: MoD

He said Britain would "use the assets that we do have" and work with its allies and the Iraqi government.

The government would "look favourably" on a request for arms from Kurdish fighters, he added.

Mr Cameron has faced demands to recall Parliament, which is on its summer break, to discuss Iraq, but he later said: "We are not contemplating things that would require that."

The government's Cobra committee met on Monday to discuss the situation in Iraq. Afterwards Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond said: "There's no call for us to deliver air strikes at the moment. The US is delivering targeted air strikes and they're perfectly able to do what needs to be done."

A Downing Street spokesperson added that the humanitarian situation in the region "remains dire".

Michael Fallon met British forces personnel at RAF Akrotiri, Cyprus, where the UK operation is based

Whitehall has confirmed UK military flights began ferrying ammunition from eastern European countries to the Kurdish Regional Government from last week. The supplies are for front-line forces battling Islamic State in northern Iraq.

Austria, France and Germany are also sending military supplies to the Kurds.

Mr Fallon told military personnel on a visit to RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus that the UK's role in Iraq had expanded beyond the original humanitarian mission to include intelligence-gathering.

"There may well now be in the next few weeks and months other ways that we may need to help save life [and] protect people and we are going to need all of you again and the surveillance you are able to give us," he said.

Mr Fallon said Britain could also provide equipment such as body armour and night-vision goggles to Kurdish forces.

For Labour, shadow foreign secretary Douglas Alexander said: "It is important to understand the nature of the mission that British forces are now engaged in."

He called for "clarity" from the government but added: "We have supported the steps that the British government, along with other European allies, have taken."

Shia Muslim refugees from Mosul eat at a refugee camp in Baghdad

Labour MP Ann Clwyd, who was special envoy to Iraq during the Blair government, told BBC News more clarity is needed.

She said: "Nobody is very clear, listening to the reports, what is actually going on. Are there troops already on the ground or are there not?

"We know the RAF has been very active, are there intelligence people on the ground or are there not?"

She raised particular concerns about thousands of Yazidi women apparently kidnapped in Iraq, adding: "Surely the intelligence services in this country could be used to locate these women."

And she questioned Mr Cameron's decision to go on holiday again, saying his absence was not "satisfactory" and describing the situation as a "mess".

Mr Cameron has defended his latest holiday, saying: "Wherever I am, wherever I am in the world I am always within a few feet of a BlackBerry and an ability to manage things should they need to be managed."

Thousands of Christians and Yazidis have fled their homes to escape IS fighters. IS has also persecuted Shia Muslims, whom it does not regard as true Muslims.

Kurdish officials said the next objective was to clear IS fighters from the Nineveh plain, north-west of Baghdad, "to ensure the return of minorities".

Comments

Comment number 1081.

Tiny Toy18th August 2014 - 16:56

When will people realize that you can't fight ideas with cannons?

If you actually want to see the end of IS, you have to take away what makes them strong: the instability and unpredictability of daily life in these regions. Give the locals help, hope, infrastructure and ideals that are meaningful to them. Give them a future. Killing militants will just radicalize more militants.

Comment number 1080.

Kingfisherphil18th August 2014 - 16:56

Why oh why are we getting involved with this hornets' nest? Cameron should learn from Bliar's foolishness. I can see us ending up with a heap more asylum seekers to cloth and feed as if we did not have higher priorities here that are British born and bred!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!Still cannot understand how Bliar seems to be Teflon on this! His day may come yet!

Comment number 1074.

Jack9318th August 2014 - 16:52

@221 Dave,

You fail to point out one thing. Political Islam is a relatively new phenomena, wealthy Arab states spreading Wahhabism and other forms of intolerant Sunni Islam are relatively new, too. The fact is, genocide of non-Muslims is happening in a Brutal way and the guilty party is the flourishing radical Islam.

Comment number 1067.

"If we had offered the free Syrian Army help over the last three years then Isis would never have formed"

What was the FSA realistically going to achieve? another Libya or Egypt?

Sure a small vocal minority have strongly held progressive aspirations, but its all for nowt if the majority turn any resulting free elections into bun-fights drawn along the same old religious and sectarian lines

Comment number 1066.

StokeAsh18th August 2014 - 16:47

Wondering how the Campaign Against Arms Trade feel about this " Whitehall has confirmed UK military flights began ferrying ammunition from eastern European countries to the Kurdish Regional Government from last week. The supplies are for front-line forces battling Islamic State in northern Iraq. " and if they are still going to try to stop the UK Government from supplying Israel with equipment.

Comment number 1063.

Nobby18th August 2014 - 16:46

There will never be peace within the Middle East as long as Islam is the prominent religion. That is the hard fact, and considering Christianity wont ever do what Isis is doing we may as well come to terms with the fact that peace wont ever exist. The only possibility left is for the world to suck their oil reserves dry and turn the place into wasteland and that is exactly what is happening.

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